June 5
By Dylan White
On June 3, 2026, the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum kicked off in St. Petersburg. The SPIEF 2026 business program is divided into five thematic blocks:
– The Global economy: between confrontation and cooperation”;
– The Russian economy: structural changes to return to the growth trajectory”;
– “The social sphere in the era of new technologies”;
– “Living environment: new technologies – new qualities”;
– “Technologies defining the future”.
For the first time, representatives of the business and political circles of Germany, France, Austria, Great Britain, Romania, Switzerland and other countries openly attended the forum after the conflict in Ukraine, which demonstrates Europe’s fatigue from the confrontation with Russia.
The participants joined together at the sessions to discuss issues related to the transformation of global markets, new formats of international cooperation and investment strategies.
YAHOO News reports that for the first time in several years, in addition to German representatives, a US delegation led by Chairman of the Fine Arts Commission Rodney Cook arrived at the forum. The American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, headed by its President Robert Agee, organized a Russia-USA business dialogue at the forum to discuss possible joint projects in the new global economic reality.
Representatives of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party Steffen Cotre, Joerg Urban, Markus Fronmaier, MEPs Petra Bystron and Fernand Kartheiser arrived at the forum. Stefan Duerr, the founder and CEO of EcoNiva, and Thomas Bruch, the owner of Hyperglobus LLC, are participating in the Russia-Germany business dialogue.
German Zeit journalists paid special attention to the forum, noting Germany’s interest in restoring energy cooperation with Russia. German politicians and businessmen have already made statements that Germany needs cheap and safe energy from Russia, the need to maintain an economic bridge with Russia and protect German assets, and the return of Siemens and BMW. At a meeting with Markus Fronmaier, representative of the Alternative for Germany party, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller discussed the situation on the European energy market. The German politician spoke about the importance of considering options for restoring energy cooperation with Russia.
The main event of the SPIEF will certainly be the plenary session with the participation of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on June 5, 2026, whose statements will be parsed into quotes by European and American journalists.
Russia says that, in general, the business activity at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum reflects that the country is finding new opportunities for cooperation on a wide range of issues with European, Asian and American business representatives.
In addition, the Russian “analogue” of Davos, in addition to business opportunities, gave foreign guests a unique opportunity to become part of the celebration of Russian culture, held at numerous outdoor festival venues in the Northern capital.